The subjunctive is quite frustrating for English speakers who are trying to learn Spanish but since it is used quite a bit in regular conversation, it is worth taking a little more time and trouble to understand how it works. The following section goes into a little more detail on its usage, which you as an intermediate level Spanish speaker should find very useful.

Expressions that use the subjunctive

Here are some common expressions that require the use of the subjunctive. You have already seen some of them in the Beginner Level of this course. The following expressions take the subjunctive because they express personal feelings about something:

special case 1: 'Decir' and 'escribir'

'Decir' - to say and 'escribir' - to write, are 2 verbs that may or may not use a subjunctive depending on the context. You only use the subjunctive if you are commanding someone to do something. Check out the examples below.

Vea películas en español para que aprenda más vocabulario – Watch movies in Spanish so that you learn more vocabularyTe traigo mi libro para que puedas leerlo mientras tanto – I will bring my book so that you can read it in the meantimeEl nos ayudará con tal de que le digamos la verdad – He will help us, provided (that) we tell him the truthNo iré a la playa a menos que vengas con nosotros – I won’t go to the beach unless you come with us

Here are some miscellaneous examples of expressions that take the subjunctive:

Sea lo que sea, ustedes tienen que terminar este trabajo – Be as it may, you have to finish this jobNo hay nadie en este país que tenga esta estampilla – There isn’t anyone in this country who has this stampNo hay ningún carro que me guste aquí – There isn’t a single car that I like hereVamos a salir hoy? Como quieras – Are we going out today? Whatever you wantQuizás vengan pronto – Perhaps they will come soonOjalá sepamos que hacer – I hope we will know what to doTal vez no haya mucho tráfico – Perhaps there isn’t much traffic